[0:00] Well, if we could, with the Lord's help and the Lord's enabling this morning, if we could turn to the book of Psalms and Psalm 100. The book of Psalms and Psalm 100.
[0:17] And we'll read the whole psalm together. A psalm for giving thanks. Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.
[0:30] Serve the Lord with gladness. Come into his presence with singing. Know that the Lord, he is God. It is he who made us, and we are his.
[0:41] We are his people and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks unto him and bless his name.
[0:54] For the Lord is good. His steadfast love endures forever. And his faithfulness to all generations. You know, Psalm 100 is one of the most well-known and much-loved psalms in the Psalter.
[1:13] And the metrical version of this psalm, which we often sing in church, it has been sung in many different denominations and many different dialects, and also in many different countries and many different contexts.
[1:26] And in that respect, Psalm 100 is a universal psalm. It's what you would call a unique psalm. Because it was actually one of the first psalms to be translated into the metrical format that we now know and love.
[1:44] Psalm 100 had first appeared just after the Scottish Reformation in 1560. And you remember the Scottish Reformation, it took place mainly through the impact and the influence of the Scottish reformer, John Knox.
[1:58] But you know, the beautiful thing about the Reformation of the 16th century is that the reformers, they wanted to put the Bible back into the hands of the people so that they could read it and that they could understand it for themselves.
[2:13] Because prior to the Reformation, as you know, the Word of God, it was all written in Latin. And it could only be read and it could only be understood by the Roman Catholic clergy.
[2:25] But it was men like William Tyndale who risked life and limb in order to translate the Bible into English so that you and I could receive and believe the Word of God for ourselves.
[2:38] But you know, the Reformation, it not only brought reform and restoration to the reading of the Word of God, it also brought reform and restoration to the singing of the Word of God.
[2:51] Because again, prior to the Reformation, in a Roman Catholic church service, there would be no congregational involvement. It would all be in Latin.
[3:03] The whole service would be in Latin, which was obviously a language that no one could understand. And of course, a church service in a language that no one could understand, it was hampering and hindering the gospel.
[3:16] But the Reformers, they wanted to reform and restore church worship. They wanted worshipers to gather together on the Lord's Day, not only to read the Word of God in their own language, and not only to hear the Word of God preached in their own language, but also to sing the Word of God in their own language.
[3:37] The Reformers wanted people in all the cities and all the towns and all the villages of Scotland to worship God using God's hymn book, which is the book of Psalms.
[3:51] And one of the first Psalms that they sung after the Reformation was this Psalm of Thanksgiving, Psalm 100. And the Scottish church, it has been singing this Psalm, this metrical Psalm, for the past 460 years.
[4:09] And I hope it's never going to stop, because it's a wonderful psalm. And it's a psalm of thanksgiving, as we read there from the title, a psalm for giving thanks.
[4:21] It's a psalm of thanksgiving because it reminds us to be thankful for our salvation, to be thankful for our shepherd, and to be thankful for our Savior.
[4:32] This psalm of thanksgiving, it reminds us to be thankful for our salvation, thankful for our shepherd, and thankful for our Savior.
[4:43] And there are three headings this morning. Thankful for our salvation, our shepherd, and our Savior. So first of all, thankful, we're to be thankful for our salvation.
[4:56] Thankful for our salvation. We'll read again in verse 1. It says, Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness.
[5:07] Come into His presence with singing. Or as we know it and love it in the metrical version, All people that on earth do dwell.
[5:18] Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice. Him serve with mirth, His praise foretell. Come ye before Him and rejoice. As we said, the metrical version of Psalm 100, it was written over 460 years ago, or written 460 years ago this year, because it was written in 1561.
[5:42] And it was translated from the original Hebrew and set to a metrical format, which could be sung in congregational worship. And it was translated by a man called William Keith.
[5:54] William Keith, you could say, he's one of the unsung heroes of the Reformation. But even though he doesn't receive as much spotlight as some of the other reformers, like John Knox and John Calvin and Martin Luther, yet you could actually go as far as to say that William Keith's works and his work of Psalm 100, it is read and sung probably more often than any of the other reformers.
[6:21] Because William Keith's translation of Psalm 100, it was not only extremely accurate, it was also adopted and sung by churches throughout the British Isles and beyond.
[6:34] And as you know, Psalm 100, it's always sung to the same tune, the tune Old 100, which was a tune composed by another unsung hero of the Reformation.
[6:46] He was a French man, a French man called Louis Bourgo. And Louis Bourgo was this man who helped John Calvin in Geneva to write the Genevan Psalter in the 1550s.
[6:58] In fact, what's really interesting about Louis Bourgo, he was put in prison. He was arrested and put in prison in 1551. Why? For altering psalms tunes.
[7:09] What a thing to be put in prison for. He was altering psalms tunes. And it was actually John Calvin who paid his bail and got him out of prison for altering psalms tunes. And so we have these two unsung heroes of the Reformation.
[7:21] We have William Keith and this man Louis Bourgo. And they are responsible for this well-known and much-loved psalm of Psalm 100 that's often sung to this rousing and reviving tune, Old 100.
[7:36] But you know, Psalm 100, it was such a moving and motivating psalm that it became known as one of the great missionary psalms when there was a great missionary movement in the 18th and 19th century.
[7:50] And it was adopted and applied by many missionaries throughout the world as one of the great missionary psalms because it opens with this great missionary vision. The missionary vision that all people that on earth do dwell would sing to the Lord with cheerful voice.
[8:09] But the thing is, this missionary vision, it was not only the missionary vision of the psalmist, it was the Lord's missionary vision. This was the Lord's missionary vision in Psalm 100 because it's the Lord's longing that all people that on earth do dwell would sing to the Lord with cheerful voice.
[8:29] It's the Lord's longing because He's not willing and He's not wanting any to perish, but that all would come to repentance. The Lord's longing is that all people will make a joyful noise to the Lord.
[8:45] And you know, it was that missionary vision which the Lord sweared and swore and shared to Abraham in Genesis chapter 12, which we read earlier.
[8:57] Because as we read earlier, when the Lord called Abraham out of the idolatrous land of our of the Chaldees, the Lord not only called Abraham out of darkness and into the marvelous light of the gospel, as we read in Genesis 12, the Lord called Abraham to go.
[9:17] That was the first thing the Lord said to Abraham, go. The Lord said to Abraham in Genesis 12, go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.
[9:31] And I will make of you a great nation. And I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you.
[9:41] And him who dishonors you, I will curse. And in you, in you all the families, all the families of the earth shall be blessed. The Lord pledged and promised blessing to Abraham and all his descendants after him.
[9:58] The Lord shared his missionary vision and swore his means of blessing that through the seed of Abraham, all the nations, all the families of this world will come to know the blessing of the Lord's salvation in Jesus Christ.
[10:18] That was the great missionary vision of the Lord. All people that on earth do dwell, sing to the Lord with cheerful voice.
[10:30] But sadly, when you look at the history of the Lord's people in the Old Testament, we see that instead of possessing and practicing this missionary vision, they prohibited it.
[10:43] Instead of possessing and practicing the vision, they held it back. My friend, the Lord's people in the Old Testament, they were called, just like Abraham, they were called, commissioned, and commanded to be a light to their neighboring nations.
[11:00] But instead of being a light, instead of being a light shining in darkness, they hid their light. They concealed their light. They veiled their light.
[11:12] And in that time, the Lord's people, they became selfish and self-centered and self-reliant and self-seeking and self-interested. They became a proud people because they're the ones who were given the gospel.
[11:26] And what they forgot was, they forgot about the grace and the mercy of God. They lost sight of the vision because they kept the light of the gospel to themselves.
[11:38] But as we read in Genesis 12 and as we read in Psalm 100, that wasn't the vision. That wasn't the vision. The vision was for the gospel, the light of the gospel to be made known to all the families of the earth.
[11:51] The vision was to be a light to all the neighboring nations. And you know, my Christian friend, that's why Jesus reminded and reaffirmed to the Christian church in the Sermon on the Mount.
[12:04] He says to us in the Sermon on the Mount, you are now the light of the world. So don't hide your light under a bushel, He says. No, no, no. You must let your light so shine before men that they may see your good work and glorify your Father in heaven.
[12:24] In other words, Jesus says, don't be like the people in the past who hid their light and veiled their light and concealed their light and kept the light of the gospel to themselves.
[12:36] No, you have received the light of life, says Jesus. Therefore, you must be a consistent Christian witness in your home and in your neighborhood and in your workplace.
[12:49] Because as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4, if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost.
[13:01] If our gospel be hid, it is hid to our unconverted friend. And you know, my friend, Solomon was right when he wrote in Proverbs, without vision, the people perish.
[13:20] Without vision, the people perish. And so, my Christian friend, we need to adopt and we need to apply the missionary vision of Psalm 100 in our lives. Because without this vision, the people in our congregation and our community, they will perish.
[13:37] If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost. If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost.
[13:49] And so, Psalm 100, it's a psalm of thanksgiving. Because it reminds us to be thankful for our salvation. But then secondly, it reminds us that we're to be thankful for our shepherd.
[14:02] So, thankful for our salvation and thankful for our shepherd. Look at verse 3. Know that the Lord, he is God.
[14:13] It is he who made us and we are his. We are his people and the sheep of his pasture. Or as we know it and love it in the metrical version, know that the Lord, he is God indeed.
[14:29] Without our aid, he did us make. We are his flock, he doth us feed. And for his sheep, he doth us take. You know, in this psalm of thanksgiving, the psalmist, he reminds us that we should not only be thankful for our salvation, because as he says, our salvation, it contains the Lord's pledge and promise of blessing to all the families of the earth.
[14:57] And you know, the thing is, God is interested in your family. We saw that when we were looking at the life of Joseph. God was interested in that family. And God is interested in your family.
[15:11] And as you know, there's no such thing as a normal family. Because every family has flaws and failings and fallouts. Every family is different. Because there are families which experience breakups and breakdowns.
[15:25] There are families that experience sickness and suffering and sorrow. There are families that encounter division or divorce. There are single-parent families. There are young families.
[15:35] There are adopted families. There are amalgamated families. But you know, the glory of the gospel. And this is something we should never lose sight of. God is interested in your family.
[15:48] God is interested in your family. And Psalm 100 reminds and reaffirms to us that the gospel is a family message. message. It's a message to every home in our community and beyond.
[16:04] The gospel, it's not just for Christians or the Christian friend. No, it's for the unconverted friend. It's not just for adults. It's for children. It's for toddlers and teenagers.
[16:16] It's for young people. It's for everyone. It's for the young, the middle-aged, and the elderly. It's for the addict and the apprehensive. It's for those who are worried and weary. The gospel is for those who are struggling with sin, sickness, suffering, or sorrow.
[16:31] And you know, that's the emphasis of Psalm 100. The gospel is a family message. It's for everyone. Because this shepherd is for everyone.
[16:45] The shepherd is for all people that on earth do dwell. The shepherd is for all people. And that's what the psalmist reminds us in verse 3. He says, Know that the Lord, He is God.
[16:58] It is He who made us and we are His. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. The psalmist reminds us to be thankful for our shepherd because the Lord is not only our creator.
[17:13] He's also our covenant king. He's not only our sovereign who rules and reigns over all things. He's also our shepherd. He's the one who brought us into being without our aid.
[17:28] And you know, this is what our Bible teaches us and tells us time and time again. That the God who created every single one of us uniquely and personally, you know, we have been made and molded and we have been formed and fashioned in the image and likeness of our creator.
[17:49] We are God. We bear the image of God. And as the Bible says, it's in Him we live and move and have our being. And we've been created to worship Him and to glorify Him.
[18:02] That's man's chief end to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever because He's our creator and He gave us a beginning. He gave us an existence.
[18:12] He made us a living soul and He made us for eternity. And my friend, I've said this to you many times before. Your God made you so delicately and with so much dignity and He thinks so highly of the life that He has given to each and every one of you that one day He will ask you what you did with it.
[18:43] He will ask you to give an account of your life in this world. And you know, this is why the God who shaped us and sustains us is the same God who wants to save us from our sin.
[19:01] That's how good and great and gracious He is. The God who shaped us and sustains us is the same God who wants to save us from our sin because He's not only sovereign, He's also our shepherd.
[19:16] And He's the shepherd who finds us. He's the shepherd who finds us. He's the shepherd who finds us as lost sheep wandering in the wilderness of this world.
[19:28] And you know, like the parable of the lost sheep, our shepherd, He seeks for us and He searches for us. He searches for His lost sheep. And you know, my unconverted friend here this morning, do you not hear the shepherd calling to you?
[19:44] not an audible voice, but within your soul, do you not hear the shepherd calling you and compelling you and even commanding you to come home?
[19:58] Come home. As the hymn writer said, come home. Ye who are weary, come home. Because, you know, He reminds us and He reassures us that as lost sheep, Jesus says, I am the good shepherd.
[20:15] The good shepherd laid down His life for the sheep. And my sheep, they hear my voice. And I know them and they follow me. And I give to them eternal life and they will never perish.
[20:27] Neither shall they be plucked from my hand. But you know, what I love about our good shepherd is that when He finds us, He rejoices.
[20:38] Our shepherd rejoices. That's what Jesus said in the parable of the lost sheep in Luke 15. He said, Rejoice with me for I have found my sheep which was lost.
[20:51] And you know, my unconverted friend, there is rejoicing in heaven when sinful sheep repent. There is rejoicing in heaven over one sinner repenting.
[21:03] So when the shepherd finds you, he rejoices. But you know, the shepherd, he not only finds us, he also feeds us. The psalmist says, We are his flock, he doth us feed.
[21:18] And for his sheep, he doth us take. And as the shepherd who finds us and feeds us, he feeds us with temporal blessings and also spiritual blessings.
[21:31] He's the shepherd who provides for our every need. Our every need because all that we have is from his sovereign and shepherding hand. As we were saying to the children, our food and our families and our friends, our home and our health, our work and our wealth, it's all from him.
[21:50] It's all from him. He is our provider. He provides for all our temporal and all our spiritual needs. Many of you will know the Reverend William MacLeod, a lovely man who just lives beside the Church of Scotland.
[22:06] And he would often relate our temporal thankfulness to our spiritual temperature. He would relate our temporal thankfulness to our spiritual temperature.
[22:17] I'm sure you've heard him saying it before, that when our cupboards were empty, the churches were full. But now that our cupboards are full, the churches are empty.
[22:30] And the churches are empty because, well, we're comfortable, we're content at home, we're complacent, we're consumerist. And although we have an abundance from our shepherd, the question is, do we acknowledge our shepherd for it?
[22:47] Do you know, my friend, we don't rely upon the promises and the provision of our shepherd as we should? Because our shepherd not only promises provision for our temporal needs, he also promises provision for our spiritual needs.
[23:05] Whether we're entangled in sin or encountering sickness or embracing sorrow, you know, we have all these promises in God's Word, promises that are there from our shepherd, promises for our provision.
[23:20] You know, that's why Paul could say to the Philippians, he could say to the Philippians, my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus.
[23:33] My God shall supply all your needs according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus. And now, that's not just a statement for positive thinking. No, you know, that's a promise of provision.
[23:46] That's a promise from the shepherd of heaven. My God shall supply all your needs according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus.
[24:00] My friend, our shepherd is not only a shepherd who finds us and feeds us, he's also a shepherd who follows us.
[24:12] He's a shepherd who follows us. That's what we're singing earlier in Psalm 23, the shepherd's psalm. Because, you know, when we confess the Lord is my shepherd, we have the promise of his great provisions.
[24:27] We have the promise that he will lead us in green pastures, the promise that he will lead us beside still waters, the promise that he will walk beside us through the valley of the shadow of death.
[24:39] But more than that, he promises that he will follow behind us with his goodness and his mercy not one day, but all the days of our life.
[24:55] Goodness and mercy all my life shall surely follow me and in God's house forevermore my dwelling place shall be. My friend, is this shepherd your shepherd?
[25:07] Because he's the shepherd who finds us, the shepherd who feeds us and the shepherd who follows us. He's the shepherd who finds us and feeds us and follows us and therefore we have good reason this morning to be thankful for our shepherd.
[25:26] Thankful for our shepherd. And so Psalm 100, it's a psalm of thanksgiving that reminds us to be thankful for our salvation, thankful for our shepherd, and then lastly, thankful for our Savior.
[25:41] thankful for our Savior. Look at verse 4. He says, Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise.
[25:53] Give thanks to him, bless his name, for the Lord is good, his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.
[26:05] Now we mentioned earlier that the well-known and much-loved metrical version of this psalm which we'll be singing shortly. It was written by William Keith in 1561 and it's been sung for the past 460 years in Scottish churches to the tune that Louis Bourgo wrote, Old 100.
[26:26] But you know, there's another verse that was later added to the concluding or to the conclusion of the metrical version of Psalm 100. And it was penned in 1674 by a man named Thomas Ken.
[26:41] He was an English bishop and also a royal chaplain. He was chaplain to the king. And he added a concluding verse to this great missionary psalm as a doxology to Psalm 100.
[26:54] A doxology is a word that comes from the Greek doxa which means glory. And so a doxology which you often read of in the New Testament different doxologies.
[27:06] A doxology is a verse which seeks to ascribe all praise honor and glory to God. And Thomas Ken's doxology to the close or the conclusion of Psalm 100 it was words maybe you've heard them before.
[27:21] Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise him all creatures here below. Praise him above ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
[27:34] Amen. My friend Thomas Ken's doxology it came from this desire. A desire to praise God from whom all blessings flow.
[27:45] To praise God in thankfulness for our salvation. To praise God in thankfulness for our shepherd. And to praise God in thankfulness for our saviour.
[27:58] But you know what I love about Psalm 100 is the question. The question at the end of the metrical psalm in Psalm 100 when it says why?
[28:10] For why? For why the Lord our God is good. That's a bit that always gets me. For why the Lord our God is good.
[28:23] Why is the Lord so good to us? Why is he so gracious towards us? Why is the Lord so great in all his works? He doesn't have to be. This is the thing.
[28:34] He doesn't have to be. He doesn't owe us anything. We don't deserve anything from him. We haven't earned anything in his sight. For why the Lord our God is good.
[28:46] And we're given that answer. For why the Lord our God is good. His mercy is forever sure. His truth at all times firmly stood and shall from age to age endure.
[28:59] My friend the Lord is good gracious and great all because of Jesus. The Lord is good gracious and great towards us because of Jesus.
[29:12] Because in Psalm 100 Jesus is the person of mercy and truth that we're singing about in the closing verse. Jesus is the person of mercy and truth.
[29:23] He's the person of love and truth. He's the person of grace and truth. And you know that's what John was telling us in his opening chapter of his gospel. That the word who became flesh and dwelt among us we have beheld his glory.
[29:39] The glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth. He is the person of grace and truth. For why the Lord our God is good.
[29:50] He's good gracious and great all because of Jesus. All because of Jesus. And you know it's for that reason that the psalmist he exhorts us and he encourages us to possess and practice this great missionary vision.
[30:11] And he encourages us with all these imperatives. I don't know if you noticed but Psalm 100 it's full of imperatives. It's only five verses but it's full of commands.
[30:23] These imperatives where the psalmist he calls us he commissions us and he commands us to possess and practice this great missionary vision. He says verse 1 make a joyful noise to the Lord.
[30:37] Serve the Lord with gladness. Come into his presence with singing. Know that the Lord he is God. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise.
[30:49] Give thanks to him. Bless his name. Why? Why are we to possess and practice this great missionary vision? for the Lord is good.
[31:00] His steadfast love endures forever and his faithfulness to all generations. The Lord is good, gracious and great all because of Jesus.
[31:12] And Psalm 100 is reminding us that we are to be thankful for our Savior because as our Bible asserts and affirms the Lord is not willing.
[31:24] Not willing at all or wanting. any to perish but that all would come to repentance. The longing of the Lord is that all people that on earth do dwell would sing to the Lord with cheerful voice.
[31:40] My friend, the Lord's missionary vision is to be our missionary vision because without vision, without this vision, the people perish.
[31:51] And the missionary vision of Psalm 100, it's a missionary vision for the whosoever. It's a missionary vision for the whosoever. And you know, that includes every unconverted friend.
[32:06] And it excludes none of them. It includes you, my unconverted friend. It includes you. The missionary vision of Psalm 100 is a missionary vision for you.
[32:19] You need to read this psalm and see that this psalm was written for you. It's a missionary vision for you. The vision is to be adopted and accepted by the Christian friend who will lovingly speak to you about your soul, who will invite you to church, who will compel you to come, not only to church, but to come all the way to Christ.
[32:47] That's our missionary vision. Why? Because the Lord is not willing. He is not wanting. He's not wanting you to perish, but that you will come to faith in Jesus Christ, that you will repent of your sins and come to this good shepherd.
[33:11] And you know, my Christian friend, we need to adopt and apply this missionary vision of Psalm 100 in our lives, because as we said, without vision, the people perish. Without vision, the people in our congregation and community perish.
[33:24] If our gospel is hid, it is hid to them that are lost. And so we have to be proactive, not reactive. We have to be forward-looking instead of just living in the past.
[33:39] We have to be striving instead of settling down. We have to be reaching out instead of relaxing. We have to be lively Christians instead of lazy Christians.
[33:50] We need to fan into flame our passion, first and foremost for the Lord, but also our passion for the lost, our passion for our unconverted friend, so that we will let our light so shine before them that they would see none other save Jesus only.
[34:16] Psalm 100, it's a psalm of thanksgiving and we have good reason to give thanks this morning. We're to be thankful for our salvation, thankful for our good shepherd, and thankful for that wonderful Savior who is not willing that any would perish, but that all would come to repentance.
[34:42] repentance. So let's sing this psalm. Let's sing it with heartfelt desire to praise God from whom all blessings flow.
[34:55] May the Lord bless these thoughts to us. Let us pray. O Lord, our gracious God, we give thanks to thee for that wonderful psalm, a psalm that has been sung by thy people for many generations.
[35:13] And we thank thee, Lord, that we have reason to give thanks. We have reason to give thanks to thee for salvation, for making that new and living way in and through thy Son, the Lord Jesus.
[35:26] We thank thee, Lord, for him being our shepherd, for the one who finds us and feeds us and even follows behind us, and for being a wonderful Savior, a Savior full of grace and truth.
[35:40] O Lord, help us as thy people to adopt this great missionary vision, to see and to have a passion for the lost and to have a passion for the Lord.
[35:54] O Lord, we pray that thou wouldst fan into flame our passion, that we would serve thee more faithfully, more diligently, more earnestly. And we confess, O Lord, that we're not what we ought to be, but we pray that thou wouldst enable us and encourage us to speak a word in season and to do everything to thy glory and for the furtherance of thy kingdom.
[36:21] O Lord, go before us and we pray. Bless us in our being together. Bless us, Lord, in our worship, that the glory would be thine, that Christ would have the preeminence, and that we would know blessing for time and for eternity.
[36:35] Do us good, we pray, for Jesus' sake. Amen. Well, we'll bring our service to a conclusion, singing that psalm, Psalm 100.
[36:48] It's on page 362 in the Scottish Psalter. Psalm 100, and we'll sing the whole psalm.
[37:00] All people that on earth do dwell, sing to the Lord with cheerful voice. Him serve with mirth, his praise foretell. Come ye before him and rejoice.
[37:11] The whole psalm. We'll stand to sing if you're able, to God's praise. All people that on earth do dwell, sing to the Lord with cheerful voice.
[37:38] 있어, with worth his praise praise, jelly. with birth his praise Horrelve.
[37:49] Sayy, guide me, for ever rejoice. For heaven rejoice Nor that the Lord is all in need Without a redeem day of his name We are his folk he done the same And for his sheep he done the same Oh, enter endless days with praise
[38:51] Approach with joy his Lord's heart too Praise Lord and bless his name always For it takes him his hope to do For while the Lord our God is good His mercy is forever true It's with that old night's burning soon
[39:52] I shall promise to return to The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ The love of God the Father And the fellowship of the Holy Spirit Be with you all Now and forevermore Amen